Shopsmith Forums

So I'm sick of paying $10-$20 a pop for good saltwater fishing plugs and I thought making my own would be fun, so when I saw an inexpensive mini lathe on craigslist i couldn't resist. Now That i got this thing in don't know where to start.

First thing is I need a center for the motor side. Right now it has a drill chuck on the motor side and a fixed center on the other. When looking for a center all the catalogs have centers for MT #1 & #2. What is this?

The drill chuck is on a threaded end, looks like a 3/8" thread. What do I get?

Btw - the lathe is an old Magraw-edison combo mini lathe/jigsaw.

Do a search on magraw edisen tools it will show you a site
and pictures of your lathe under 7" woodturning lathe
good luck

MT =Morse Taper...looked at picture of the unit you described

http://vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/ ... x?id=10535

Does not appear to have alot of options. Best bet is to see if the fixed center is removable...compare it to the MT 1 and 2...see if they match.

Yes that's it. Looks like the fixed center on the tailstock has a set screw a may be removable.

Any thoughts about what I can do with the drill chuck? Do they make headstock centers for threaded spindles?

Thanks for the help.

That one is beyond my knowledge....hopefully some folks around here with more experience will chime in. I started asking questions like that at my local woodworking stores....not sure where you are located...hope you have some.

Can you post a picture of your machine, or is it the one on the VintageMachinery site?

Have you tried removing the drill chuck (if it's just a setscrew holding it)?

Standard wood lathes nowadays use either a Morse Taper (MT), typically a #2 taper on the tailstock. Many also have a MT-2 on the head stock. Other options on the head stock include a 1"x8TPI male thread, or other type of threads (1x12TPI, etc.) Many chuck makers (Nova, Oneway, etc.) make adapters to adapt their chucks (expensive chucks, but well worth it depending on what you're trying to make) to any common lathe.

Check out this document?
http://www.teknatool.com/products/Chuck ... Thread.pdf

I found a solution. Penn State Ind. makes a headstock center that fits into a drill chuck.